Albert Price always wanted to be a firefighter. As the Germantown native grew up and into young adulthood, he had a plan for his career path: He would first go into the military, and then join the Fire Department after he finished his service. But that path has been completely shut off to him for the last 30 years, ever since he pleaded guilty to a crime he never committed.
Price was just 21 when he was fixing up his car behind a friend’s house and a pair of police officers pulled up. The officers had received complaints from neighbors about the noise Price and his friend were making on the car, and ran the vehicle information for each man’s cars through their database. It turned out Price’s friend was in possession of a stolen vehicle. Even though Price had no idea about his friend’s car, he was charged with felony-level receiving stolen property. He pleaded guilty to avoid jail time.
Now 51, Price is just one of thousands of Philadelphians who carry a criminal record with them every day of their lives.
Picture courtesy of City of Philadelphia.